HYDERABAD: Wondering how the state government can issue GOs under a repealed legislation, the Telangana high court on Wednesday directed it not to process or act upon the 6.74 lakh applications filed by farmers seeking registration of their unregistered sale deeds — known as Sada Bainamas — they entered into prior to June 2014.
A bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy gave this interim direction while hearing a PIL moved by Shinde Devidas of Nirmal district, who brought to the notice of the court the issuance of GO No. 112 (issued on October 12) inviting applications from the people to register their unregistered sale deeds recorded before June 2014.
This was issued in the backdrop of repealing the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbooks Act, 1971 and replacing it with a 2020 Act. This came into force from October 29. But prior to that, the state government issued two GOs asking people to register their Sada Bainamas before October 29. It was later extended up to November 10.
The petitioner says that by virtue of the new Act, the old Act stood repealed but the state has been issuing the GOs under the old Act asking people to register their Sada Bainamas. The bench observed that even the General Clauses Act that takes care of interregnum periods cannot come to the rescue of the state after October 29.
When verified about the number of applications that were received between October 12 and October 29 and later, advocate general BS Prasad replied that 2.26 lakh applications were received between October 12 and October 29. And for the period from October 29 to November 10, as many as 6.74 lakh applications were received.
The bench said the government has no power to deal with or act upon the 6.74 lakh applications because there is no saving clause in respect of them. However, in respect of 2.26 lakh application received prior to October 29, the bench said that they will be subject to the final outcome of this litigation.